Three Days 'Till Home
by Winter Ashby
Summary: Three days can be a very long time to get home and out of the sun, especially now that Sakura holds a precious piece of information. But, in the presence of the right person, perhaps three days isn't quite long enough… [Neji & Sakura]
1. Dusk

**Title: **Three Days 'Till Home**  
Author:** Winter Ashby (_rosweldrmr_)  
**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**Rating: **K+  
**Summary: **Three days can be a very long time to get home and out of the sun, especially now that Sakura holds a precious piece of information. But, in the presence of the right person, perhaps three days isn't quite long enough… (Sakura & Neji)  
**Authors Notes: **Well, once again my never-ending obsession with the 'Rescue Gaara' arc has taken hold of me. First is the first part of a three part story, obviously, taking place over three days.

The title: 'Three Day's Till Home' is because Shizune says that it will take them three days to return from Suna after their mission and an extra day they spent there. (I've checked the time line!) So this is the three days it takes for Team Kakashi and Team Gai to journey back to Konoha. Therefore, this is my alternative ending to the arc.

I was going to do three versions of this... one for Sakura and Gaara and the other for Kakashi and Sakura. Maybe someday I will, but not right now... I have other things on my mind.

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_Have you ever felt like your only comfort was your cage? You're not alone. _

_Have you ever felt like your secrets give you away? You're not alone._

Lifehouse – Quasimodo

* * *

"What happened in the cave?" Sakura glanced to her left, and into the pale eyes of the Hyuuga prodigy. He stood, arms crossed, the midday sun hitting his face and almost making his eyes shine. The image unnerved her, even more so because his cold voice cut through the sweltering heat. She couldn't recall a time when they'd spoken in the past, and certainly not when he'd initiated the conversation. So she stood, mouth gapping, holding the strap of her pack, trying to picture him with a _less_ menacing expression. It wasn't working. 

"What?" Her mouth finally caught up with her mind and excreted the question almost vehemently. She regretted it immediately, because his shinning eyes slimmed and watched her squirm under his gaze. It was hot enough trekking through the desert, never mind the fact that she was feeling fatigued from so much exertion two days ago. Even the extra day they'd spent in Suna to see Chiyo-sama buried and to rest wasn't enough to fully recharge her.

"What happened with Chiyo-sama when you two fought Sasori?" His strides were even and decisive. He had no trouble keeping instep with her short gait and that infuriated her a little. He just popped out of nowhere and asked her a personal question like he had all the right in the world to do so. He didn't know her, and she was pretty sure he didn't really want to. But she looked at him and tried to think of any possible motive he could have for asking such a thing.

"I don't know what you mean." She quickened her pace in an effort to signal to him that this conversation was not something she wanted any part of. But his steps were painfully accurate, and he merely watched her from the corners of his large, pupil-less eyes as she pressed on. Home was only three days off, but somehow in the last two minutes, this thought had become impossibly less comforting. Three days wasn't nearly short _enough_.

"I saw the cave, Sakura." She stopped at the sound of her own name. Something about it coming from his mouth and passing over his lips seemed wrong, like this was all just in her imagination. Because in the real world, Neji would not be speaking, let alone to her. But she blinked, only to find that he was not a mirage and now stood a meter in front of her, waiting. He sighed, and she suddenly felt very dejected. "There was quite a bit of blood." She shuddered involuntarily at the memory of a blade piercing her gut. He didn't seem to notice. "Even if he was a human puppet, he could not have bleed that much."

He said it so matter-of-factly; like it was common knowledge that a human puppet can't bleed like a normal human. She hadn't even been aware of the existence of such an individual until two days ago. "I did what needed to be done." She had no interest in recounting the story, or hearing his objections to whatever decisions she'd made. It was her life, and it had nothing to do with him. She stepped around him and continued on, but still staying to the rear of the group. She was in no mood to deal with Naruto. But he and Gai seemed to be too preoccupied with their discussion about training to be of any nuisance. Even Lee was engaged in a quiet exchange with Ten-Ten.

"What did Chiyo-sama mean when she said '…don't risk your like for an old hag…' What did you do?" He couldn't just leave well enough alone. In no time, he'd close the distance she'd managed to put between them. But he still showed no interest in the questions he was asking. It was strange, really. It was as if he had put no effort into the act of asking, but there was obvious thought put into the situation. He was a strange mix of cold heartlessness and twisted duty. She felt a swell of pity for him, but immediately reviled it as she knew he would too.

"It was a fight Neji-san, things happen." She tried her best to pull the strap of her pack up and relieve the pressure on her shoulder for a moment. The sun was beginning to take its toll as her sweat beaded on her forehead in its wake. She wished they could have spent a least one more day in Suna, but she knew well enough that they would only just make it in time to get back and travel to Grass for the meeting with Sasori's spy in Orochimaru's organization.

"Fair enough." He turned from her then and faced the backs of his comrades. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he was pouting. But the expression passed in a second and she was left with the sour idea that she was _watching_ him. She returned her line-of-sight ahead and relaxed. It seemed that her curt answers had sufficed. It still bothered her that he'd been bold enough to broach the subject with her, but as long as it was over now, she was glad. There was nothing about that day she ever wished to relive. But then there was a gripping worry that sprang from the tone of his question. The last thing she needed was this exact same conversation with any more people.

"Did the others see; Lee-san or Gai-sensei?" He turned slightly, and the sheen on his forehead glistened. It was unusual to think that anything could get to him. She scoffed at her ridiculous thought, it wasn't as if he was an immortal, she'd seen him be defeated, after all. But there was just something so, unflappable about him. His eyes lingered on her face for an instant more than she was comfortable with and for one abhorring second, she was sure he was a mind reader. But then he blinked and turned away again. She released the breathed she'd been holding and waited for his answer.

"No." He was once again the same removed shinobi she'd grown accustom to over the years she'd known of him. "I viewed the cave with Byakugan to see if you still needed assistance." There was a tangled little voice in her mind that insisted she be relieved but even the thought that _he_ knew was one more than she was okay with. "When I verified that you and Chiyo-sama were no longer there, we moved on." So he never actually went into the cave. She marveled at the idea that he could identify blood with his white eyes and then was secretly jealous of his kekkei genkai. She wondered what people looked like from the inside-out.

She smiled, but only on the very edges of his lips and then let them fall back into a rigid line. "Good. There's no need to tell them." She wasn't sure if he would let it pass as just that, just a comment. But she was beyond caring, or having any desire to expound on her desire to keep this little secret between them. But he looked at her again and she knew she'd made a mistake.

"Sakura…"

"I'm fine now…" She cut him off, and was infinitely proud of herself for it. He hand no right to lecture her, to look down on her because she was injured, because she'd been nearly killed. That information was hers and hers alone. She hated him then, for intruding on what was none of his business. And she had the sickening impression that she somehow _owed_ him an explanation. Her heart dropped bitterly at the thought that she was capable of owing something to someone she barely knew. "Chiyo-sama…" she caved in, she knew eventually she would, so she hated herself a little then in the absence of words. But she didn't like the feeling of self-contempt, so she switched back to hating him while he slowly came to the right conclusion to her unfinished statement.

"The Tensei ninjutsu." His perception was frightening. And she was sure he could feel her uneasy grow in his shadow. He seemed pleased, and yet at the same time as the smug little smirk quirked at the bits of his mouth he could use, he almost managed to look simultaneously disapproving. It baffled her. "But that would mean…?" She swore she could hear the gears in his head ticking away, formulating his own incorrect theories about what happened. She considered, ruefully, that the only reason he may even be interested was because he was envious of her chance to fight a member of Akatsuki.

"Yes, but I wasn't dead, yet… so…" She answered him nonetheless. Even if it had nothing to do with him, she was compelled by the memory of a great and powerful woman to answer. It was for Chiyo-sama that she indulged his curiosity. She hoped that she'd get Good Karma points for this and watched his mind grind and twist though the implications of her answer.

"Soca." The sun was beginning to burn brighter and a bead of sweat escaped her hair line and slid down the side of her face. She glared at him and repressed the urge to complain. Sweating always made her feel so _dirty_. She looked at him carefully and entertained the idea that he was just as uncomfortable and sweaty as she was. This thought was very satisfying. So she took a little extra bounce in her step and dared to look at him. He was looking so pleasantly _un_comfortable that she decided there would no harm in actually telling him what happened.

"It was my fault." She turned from him then because the courage she's just so triumphantly gained was torn to shreds. She could still feel as the poison blade was pulled from her midsection. "I should have made more antidotes." She could feel the prick in her thigh as the hiss as the pneumatic injection device pumped her with the antidote. "I shouldn't have been hit; I am a medic-nin." Her confession was bitter on her tongue and she knew it was probably better when it was unsaid. Her guilt was suffocating. "That's one of the first lessons Tsunade-shishou taught me. A nedic-nin's first priority in a fight is to avoid their opponent's attack." She could feel the iron needle slice through her forearm and cursed deep and vengeful in the back of her mind. "We're supposed to avoid being hit." She heard a small, disapproving noise slip from his throat and cringed. "I failed, and Chiyo-sama paid the price."

"I'm sure you would have avoided it, if you could have." His response was disconcerting, and uncharacteristically humane. She eyed him suspiciously and quickly reassured herself that he was real, and not a kage bushin. But she was alarmed to find that even if he _was_, she would have no way of telling. She frowned. "I doubt very much you would have willingly let yourself almost die." Her steps faltered and she fell behind. She didn't have to say anything, not that she would have, but the look on her face was enough for him to surmise the fallacy of his assumption.

"It doesn't change what happened." She turned her head up, just enough to show him he had no right to look down on her for her choice. After all, it was her decision to jump in front of the blade. And no one, certainly not some snotty, stuck-up, aristocratic, obsessive, nosey, self-righteous, antisocial, power-hungry, occasional heartless psychopath was going to make her second-guess herself. _That_ was her job. "If only I could have…"

"That is useless." She carefully considered the implications of killing him and begrudgingly decided it wasn't worth the trouble. "Your fate is not something you can change." Perhaps just one murder wouldn't be so bad.

"Don't, not now, Neji-san." Her voice was thin and shrill and she was in danger of succumbing to the anger that swirled in her stomach. She _almost_ left off the honorific, but years of proper etiquette engrained into ever fiber of her being made sure she remembered her place. But if she was ever going to disgrace the social hierarchy; it would have been then, against him. "I don't feel like hearing about fate and destiny." Even if she didn't know him all that well, and hadn't ever really carried on a conversation with him, he was widely known for his long, infuriating monologues about fate. She felt empathy for his situation and the entire Hyuuga Branch family, but that by no means meant that she could stomach his _insightfully_ little pearls of wisdom.

"Ah, I see." The tree line was emerging in the far distance, and for one second she thought it might have been a mirage. But then Naruto gave a long howling yelp of joy and she felt the clamping hand of misery ease on her heart. Shade, darkness, cool breeze… they were getting closer to home. Even if they still had two full days of traveling, at least it would be in the forest. That was Fire Country, it was familiar. He still kept in stride with her and she desperately wished he wouldn't. He towered a good foot and a half over her and it just gave him the perfect excuse to look down at her. She squirmed.

"No, you really don't." her solemn resolve melted in the burgeoning prospect of wilderness. She let the flood of recent memories bombard her senses. She could still feel the blood spill from her gut and soak through her gloves. She could taste metal in her mouth as her vision blurred. The last things she remembered before she fell into darkness were those _haunting_ boyish eyes. She picked up speed unconsciously. She knew that any trip to Suna in her lifetime would be too soon.

"The cave was demolished, Sakura." She bit back the urge to ask him not to say her name. She just didn't like the way it sounded coming from him. She might have recognized how insane that was, but there was just something so unnerving about it. It was familiar, but in a way that's just far enough from the actual memory that you know it's _wrong_ but still close enough that it messes with the right memory. And there was a great looming shadow that cast down on her. She recognized now that the sun was descending in the sky at their backs. But he stood firmly rooted in her path, so she planted her feet and crossed her arms. "I understand quite well what the situation was." She glared at him while he spoke. "Sasori was an elite member of Akatsuki. You are lucky to be alive."

She slit her eyes into _dangerous_ emerald half-moons. "Luck had nothing to do with it." She would not be patronized by him. It was a difficult fight, but she was alive and now held a precious piece of information because of it. She was inching closer to her goal, and she'd managed to cause a lot of damage in the process. She was no longer the frail, weak little girl she'd been. She didn't cry anymore, or whine, or fuss over trivial things like her appearance. She was a strong medic-nin and a powerful kunoichi. She took a defiant step towards him and was surprisingly awarded with his waver.

"I… I did not mean that you are inadequate." It was only a second, but she'd seen it. She intimidated him, and for that one second, she was the most powerful shinobi in the world. It didn't matter that she was the only one who would know this simple truth, she wasn't power obsessed like Neji, Naruto, or even Sasuke. The only thing that counted was that she knew it, and she savored the victory as it rolled over her tongue. It tastes sweet. But then he regained his composure and spoke and her moment of glory was gone. "I only meant that it was a difficult fight, one that perhaps you were not quite ready for." He just didn't learn, did he?

"You are in dangerous territory, Neji-san." She stood defiant and irrevocably fuming from head to toe with frightful contempt overflowing from her fingers and slipping from the strands of her hair. She looked directly into his white eyes and took another step closer. This time he didn't flinch. She wished he would have.

"Foolish woman, I only wanted to say that there is no need to feel remorse for your role in Chiyo-sama's passing." He turned from her, like everything was fine, like he hadn't just insulted her abilities as a ninja, or casually removed the guilt that ate away at her soul. He spoke to her like he had all the answers, like he had the _right_ to absolve her mistakes with the swish of his hair in the setting sun. "She was alive because of you. She was able to revive the Kazekage-sama because of you." Even with his retreating back to her, she was able to make out the sincere gesture on the wind because it passed over her like fingers on her skin. He just stood there and presumed to know what she felt.

"If we'd made it there in time, she wouldn't have needed to trade her life for his." Her rebuke was thick on her tongue and heavy on her mind. She counted the seconds they'd wasted and blamed them for the life taken. Seconds in the air from one branch to the other, seconds spent considering what kind of antidote to make, finding the proper ingredients, mixing the extra vials… time _she_ wasted. The life that was traded was her responsibility. A mission she failed. A life she couldn't protect.

"She died to protect her country." He was already three strides in front of her and she took five to catch up. He had now deemed this conversation past his interest, and this drove the stubborn streak in her core to explode with unresolved fixation. She would not lose to him now, not after she'd won, not after she'd fought so hard to match his pace. "Don't belittle her sacrifice…"

"I am well aware of what she scarified." She didn't let him finish, it wasn't his right to tell her what sacrifice was made. Once again, she was at his side, looking past the growing challenge she'd thrown his way. Instead she fixed her eyes on the growing trees and counted the seconds it would take to enter the plush forest, and finally relax. The forest looked dark, and cool. Even if the sun was slowly sinking from the sky, she could still feel it on her back and resented its presence.

"No doubt you are." He glanced down at her and she suppressed the urge to smash his face into a million splinters of bone fragments and muscle. "But regardless of your ill-timing, she would have traded her life for his. It is in no way your fault." Her fists clenched at her sides, stretching the material of her glove taut over her knuckles that she was sure were white under the black fabric. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of letting him see her lose control.

"I was careless." It was a quiet succession, but in that moment, she could see the torch of victory slip from her hands and fall into his grasp. He was centimeters from her, and every cell of her right side ached with the desire to rain down hate and abuse on him. She hated him and all the introspection his stoic features and emotionless eyes seemed to hold. But she couldn't bring herself to look away, almost like she'd now fallen hopelessly into his trap. And now she looked to him for _validation_, like he was the only one who could give it to her. She was weak, again. So she decided that it might be more beneficial to hate herself for a little while instead.

"I doubt that." Her eyes shot open, wide and completely overcome with the _terror_ that his reassurance brought. She was painfully aware that his faith in her was comforting. Then she decided that it was definitely in her best interest to hate every millimeter of herself than to admit that Hyuuga Neji made her feel even the most miniscule amount of ease.

"Why are you interested, Neji-san?" the bile rose in her throat and she bit back the urge, yet again, to _conveniently_ lose the honorific somewhere in the space that separated their bodies. The trees were now coming closer and with every step she could sense to relief that was threatening to overtake her. With the emerging feel of home washing over her, the confidence that only moments previous were dashed by the supreme fear of his ability to read her so perfectly, had returned with a vengeance. So she turned her head to look at him and summoned all the clout she could manage. "Why do you care if I was fatally wounded?" She was utterly rewarded, yet again, with the slightest, faintest, and some would argue, non-existent vacillation in his step. If she hadn't been looking so intently, so single-mindedly for it, she might have missed it. Or she might have made it up altogether.

"I care not." They were only one painful meter from the shade of the trees and her entire body ached for the familiarity of bark under her sandals and leaves in her hair. "I only wished to assess your condition. After all, as you pointed out earlier, you are out medic-nin on this mission." She smiled then, oddly glad to find a verbal spar with such an unlike source. But the conversation evaporated as her feet hit the first grain of Fire Country and she sighed with great pleasure for the end of a long day and an even more frustrating companion.

"Fair enough." She smiled, despite her better judgment and left him in her dust as she took to the trees in a move that was both completely familiar and comforting as it was powerful and poignant.

* * *

**Dedication**:

This is for Chica De La Luna Fantasma

Because she has been there to give me unconditional encouragement since I started this idea. I would never have had the courage to post this without you. Have fun in California! We'll talk more when you get back.


	2. Dawn

**Title: **Three Days 'Till Home  
** Author:** Winter Ashby (_rosweldrmr_)  
**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**Rating: **K+  
**Summary: **Three days can be a very long time to get home and out of the sun, especially now that Sakura holds a precious piece of information. But, in the presence of the right person, perhaps three days isn't quite long enough… (Sakura & Neji)  
**Authors Notes: **Apperently, I'm boring now! pout Oh well. I seem to like this very much - because I just keep writing ;) So you will all have to just bear with me. I think the ending is very good... but it's still a chapter away. I should finish it today... though, you will just have to wait. Oh a better note, I can UPLOAD things again! Yay for me.

Oh, yes. Just a quick little warning... I am trying a new style and it may not be working out so well. Let me know, critisims are welcome, they let me know when I SUCK. But, ah, no flames please. I'm a very sensative person and your hate makes me cry. I've also tried humor - which I will be the first to admit, I'm no good at. So tell me what you think...it will help me get better. So eventually, I will throngs of adoring fans... :)

* * *

Night was just leaving the camp as the first rays of sunrise shifted though the trees and scattered across the ground. Sakura gathered her sleeping roll and repacked her traveling bag. She never really minded sleeping on the ground, even when she was younger. And even if it was cold and damp on the hard, dirt ground, it was home. Across the make-shift camp she could just make out the silhouettes of Lee and Ten-Ten having a quiet talk. She could feel the presence of someone else approach from behind, but she already knew who it was. 

"Ohayo, Neji-san." She didn't have to turn around, but she did anyway. His long brown hair just caught the sun as it filtered through the green leaves of the tall trees and made his eyes look like two moons. She quickly turned away, back to observing the rest of their party in silence.

"Ohayo." He was curt, as always. But she sensed tension in his voice. Her eyes followed his and found his two companions still engrossed in their own little world. She watched as Lee packed Ten-Ten's sleeping roll away and proceeded to give her his 'nice guy pose.' Ten-Ten giggled, and something inside Sakura was suddenly very light. She smiled warmly on the cool morning and recalled past instances when he'd given her that look. She was sorry to admit that she was relieved he was now giving them to someone else.

"Have you noticed the way Ten-Ten-san looks at Lee-san?" She spoke ahead, but she knew he would hear. It only took a moment, but he took two steps and stood next to her, watching his fellow teammates and frowning. It was a strange feeling, to watch them. She almost felt like she was spying, like it was something that she shouldn't see.

"Hn. It has been going on for quite some time." There was something about the way he said it, like there was more. She stole a quick glance over her shoulder, only to find him, as stoic as ever, still watching with disapproval shinning in his eyes. There was a horrible conclusion floating just to the left of Sakura's thoughts, and in that moment, she found it drifting in the vast expanses of her cluttered mind.

"Ah, soca…" she commented almost silently as she watched him watch them, in particular, Ten-Ten. The way she watched Lee, it was sad in a very proverbial way. "Gomen ne." Immediately, she regretted mentioning it at all. Because she _knew_ that look, she was quite achingly familiar with it.

"Nani?" his voice turned shallow and cold so she resisted the urge to shiver in the wake of his freezing tone and glassy eyes. She'd obviously hit a nerve, and she was sorry for it. But he was too close to gauge properly, so she kept her twitching eyes ahead to the sight of his teammates. But then Lee's eyes caught hers, and she was devastated to find that they still lit up like Christmas lights in the forest greenery.

"Ah, nothing." She turned from him, right back into the icy air that surrounded her silent companion. It was almost an afterthought, to think of him as a man. Sakura was ashamed to admit it, yet again, but she'd always considered him to be above trivial things, like love. But he was only human, only a man. "Er… sorry I said anything, that's all." And she was frightfully aware that she'd now managed to offend his manly ego. This morning was not beginning so well.

"I require no such gesture from you." She couldn't remove her eyes from him, not just because a part of her knew that would be _rude_, but there was something so vulnerable in his gaze that made it wrong to turn her face from it. It was like watching the first snowfall, or the first bloom of a flower that only happens once a year. She sighed, heavily into the dissipating morning mist and watched him bore perfect circular holes into her face.

"Well, it's just…" She hated how her mind and mouth conspired against her, and for the first time in her life, almost wished that Naruto would come over to bug them. But alas, he was still asleep – Gai and Kakashi were working on that front without her. "I didn't think…" She really did mean to finish that thought, but then there was another searing image of the nearly painful look in his eyes while he watched what he was not a part of.

"Think what, woman? Spit it out, your apprehension is painfully annoying!" Any sympathy she might have held for his situation melted away and was replaced by the gleeful presence of anger. It was much more natural to hate the Hyuuga prodigy than it was to pity him. It felt less bitter on her tongue. So she slimmed her eyes and showed him that she could look _dangerous_ too, if she really wanted to.

"I didn't know it bothered you so much." She tethered her anger before it threatened too menacingly to break free of her tentative self-control and tell him exactly what she thought. "I wouldn't have brought it up if it did." She smiled, gently at her own internal victory and pulled the hate from her heart as she watched him watch them, _again_. If it wasn't so sad, it might have been ironically funny. But as it was, the pain she felt twinge in the center of her soul was just familiar and painfully useless. _Unrequited_.

"The only reason her _obvious_ crush is of any concern to me is if it gets in the way of our missions. So far, it has not. Therefore, I care not who she is interested in." In his own, unique, formal dialect, she imagined that was his version of 'whatever.' "I am certainly _not_ personally vexed, as you insinuated." He then proceeded to puff out his chest and look far more self-important than he had the right to.

"Ah, I see." Sakura relented, because she knew that if she pushed it anymore, she would be treading in an uncharted region. And without a map, or a guide – she feared being lost inside Neji's thoughts forever. She was relieved to see his eyes softened, just enough for her to be sure that his paranoia of being exposed had passed.

"Good." He nodded in a way that made her think that he had now deemed this topic to be over. But then he glanced back at her and she was surprised to see the quiver of a smirk playing on his taunt lips. "Lee however is oblivious." But he wasn't watching them anymore, instead he fixed his unnerving white eyes on her and she squirmed under him.

"Yes, he does seem a bit… distracted." She repressed the urge to giggle like a school girl at the looks Lee was sending her way. But they were just so ridiculous. He never seemed to change, except in the quite moment's in-between battles, missions, and Gai impersonations. He would always be the effervescent boy who wept for the spring time of his youth, but she'd also seen the way he glanced at Ten-Ten just in the space between overtly flirtatious looks he sent her way. It was different, and reserved. But in a whole other way, it was more real than anything she'd seen him give her.

"I'm sure your presence has something to do with that." His voice pulled her from her thoughts and jarred her with the revelation that kicked dust around the rarely used portion of her 'gossip' brain. It had been a long time since she'd interested herself with the relationships of the other shinobi. In fact, it had been quite a while since she'd considered the reality that she was still waiting for someone that left her. She was alone, chaste lips and virgin legs was only the start of all the _aspects_ she was lacking.

But the way he looked at her was a reminder of all her inadequacies. She was aware that he'd spoken, but she was in no way prepared to have a deep, insightful conversation so early in the day. Regretfully, she thought fondly of the beds they'd left behind in Suna, and suddenly two more days was far, far too long even in the homely, plush forest. "Nani?"

"His fascination with you has not waned." He seemed to be enjoying what little power he still dangled over her. She was sure he was well aware of her absence from the social world, as she was of his. "In fact, after you began apprenticing under the Godaime, he became more adamant that he was meant to be with you." She laughed then, low and true. There was no apprehension in the act, even if it was in the presence of Hyuuga Neji. It was just so preposterous to think that Lee actually convinced himself that they were 'meant to be.'

"That's ridiculous." She let her laughter die down and watched as he smirked, seemly enjoying the same thoughts she had. It was a strange feeling, to share a moment of levity with such a serious person. But he let his lips curl and she was surprisingly at ease.

"Precisely what I told him." He was once again looking past her to the increasingly boisterous scene. Ten-Ten managed to convince Lee to carry her bag, while Naruto had cloned himself and all five of him was trying to sleep.

She felt bold and completely complacent with his company, and ventured to nudge his side lightly with her elbow. "Neji-san, I had no idea you could carry on conversations so well." She smiled for him and gracefully accepted the grin he offered her. And for that moment, she was sure she was betraying something. But it didn't seem to matter then, so she smiled and he grinned like it was an action they'd shared hundreds of times.

"Hmpf, I am capable of social interaction, if I so desire." He feigned shock and she was forced, yet again to smile brightly in his direction. "And three days with Gai-sensei and Lee is bad enough, not to mention Naruto." Her eyes followed his, only to find Naruto now half dressed, sleeping hat still covering his unruly blond hair, trying desperately to fight off Gai and Kakashi with nothing but his jacket and one sandal. "I fear that without a little quiet, I would be forced to kill them all."

"I know what you mean." Almost unconsciously, she found herself drifting closer to him. It was as if he was drawing her in with the orbits of his moon-eyes and she was helpless to stop herself. But he didn't seem to notice, so she pretended that she didn't either. "Naruto can be a little, tiring sometimes." She sighed then, for the memories that would follow her for the rest of her life.

"I will never understand what Hinata-sama sees in him." The grin was gone now, replaced by a calm, emotionless expression that seemed to fit his features more. She remembered the way he'd attacked his cousin during the first chuunin exam, but as she watched him now, _that_ Neji seemed to be like a distant dream. He'd grown quite a bit in the two and a half years that passed.

"A chance for happiness, I suppose." There was a bitter taste in her mouth, a memory she tried to forget and the guilt of allowing the phantom to pass through her mind, unbidden. "I suspect she looks up to Naruto because he has the power to change people, and fate." Because no matter where they went or who Naruto met – he seemed able to change them. He'd changed Gaara, and Chiyo, and even Neji.

"I need no reminders of that lesson." He was solemn again, and she almost wished that he'd grin again or even smirk. She disliked the serious Neji that always had control over everything. She enjoyed the man who was able to chuckle and who sweats when it was hot. It made him seem more human, more on a level she could identify with.

"Ah, that's right." There was a subtle epiphany in her feeble mind as she considered the mortality of a legend. "I forgot to congratulate you on your promotion to Jounin! I was away on training during the exams, but Ino filled me in." She hadn't been willing to take the test then, opting for more training instead. Even though Tsunade said she would have supported her if she decided to try. But it didn't feel like the right time. And in fact, only three shinobi were granted jounin status were Neji, Temari and Kankurou, who were all a year older than her and quite a bit more experienced. So she didn't regret her decision in the least.

"Yes, well, thank you." Not for the first time, Sakura felt a minor victory within her reach. No doubt, he was unaware that she knew of his promotion. The minute waver and the almost invisible pink hue that she imagined would have been there was a wave of triumph washing over her. Not many people in the village were present at the trials, and she considered that he might have _liked_ it that way.

"I heard that Temari-san and Kankurou-san were also promoted." She thought back to the man she'd rescued, and the unlikely comrade she'd found in Temari. In her frequent visits to Konoha during the years, they had become friends. It seemed only fitting that they passed. He recovered quickly from his falter but the enduring recollection of it still stayed with her.

"They were." He was once again engrossed in the process of pinning her under his gaze. But now, it didn't feel nearly as intimidating as it had before. Now that she'd witnessed his humanity and bathed in the presence of his grin, she felt oddly confidant around him. She realized that with every minute that passed she grew more accustom to him. This idea disturbed her, so she looked back to the bubbly man with the 'unique' look who was now watching _her_.

"I wonder why Lee-san didn't try." She'd never really considered it before, the fact that Lee hadn't even tried. It was unusual. He was typically the first to charge into a good fight, prepared or not. So she watched him watch her and wondered if she really knew him as well as she thought she did.

"I think he is still cautious, after the first chuunin exam." There painful kind of pull at her heart then, because she remembered watching him in the hospital during his recovery. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she saw a change in him after that. He was still Lee, he would always be that boy who declared he would protect her to the death, and the body that lie at her feet as she reached the first real turning point in her life. It was his back she sought to pass. It was him who'd given her that chance. But after the surgery, there was just something _different_, maybe if she were a better friend, she could identify what it was that changed. But she couldn't, and relished in the swell of regret that stirred in her.

"Soca, I can understand that." She hating thinking that he harbored some deep-seeded fear, or worse – a grudge that would haunt him. But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, it was dismissed. The bobbled hair man that stood in front of her now in the new day's light would never be the raven haired boy with cold, dead eyes who haunted _her_. "Gaara-sama sure has changed, ne Neji-san." She no longer wished to dwell on Lee's pain and instead turned to the implausible Kazekage who sacrificed his life for that of his people.

"It would appear so." She could hear it in his voice, that distant kind of fear that lingered in his white eyes in the sunlight. He felt it too, that repressed apprehension over the subtle changes in his teammate. Perhaps he was just as concerned as she was that Lee had chosen not to participate at all. And his readiness to move from the subject was a welcome common ground.

"Naruto has a habit of changing people wherever he goes." She turned from her dark thoughts and instead embraced the memories of the overexcited fox-boy who always managed to come out on top. She watched him struggle to dress himself and suppressed the urge to groan as she spotted that mischievous glint in his eyes. He was plotting something… she was sure of it.

"Has he changed you?" She was pulled from her counter scheming by the man who stood far too close to her right. It was an unexpected question, personal in an atypical way – and yet completely welcomed. She watched him for a moment and rolled his question around inside her head and across her tongue.

"I guess he has." She nodded and smiled warmly in the direction of said distraction. He truly had managed to weasel his was into her life over the years. But there was just something about him that seemed to _get_ her so well. "When I first met him, he was so annoying." She scoffed at the image of him temping her to try and see what was under Kakashi's mask. "And he and Sasuke-kun would argue nonstop."

She wasn't sure how it happened, but somehow his name floated from her lips without her permission. She was momentarily stunned at her own lack of control. She managed not to say his name… in years. But there was just something about Neji that melted away all the barriers she'd managed to build. She'd told him her secret and let him placate her. And now, here she was, reminiscing about Sasuke like he was dead. She cleared her throat and pushed the last thought from her mind. She was not betraying him, after all – he was the one who left her.

"Hm" he paid her internal struggle no attention and merely glanced ahead and pulled his hands behind his back, like he was contemplating something deeply important. She might have hated him then, because she could think of no other way to respond to the clearly… sympathetic reaction he was giving. Surely Neji was unaware of how to be quietly comforting. Surely he had no idea how to let her betray herself and stand gently in support as she chastised herself. Surely he had no idea what he was doing to her.

"Three years away from him gave me a lot of time to think about it." She felt incongruously angry at him for being so… so… so HUMAN! What right did he have to stand there at look at her like _that_, like he knew what she was feeling, like he approved of her pain, like he _knew_ his approval would console her?

"I suppose this means that you are planning to meet Orochimaru in the grass country." He was like a puzzle that she desperately desired to put back together, just to see what he would look like. One minute he was cold and distant, like the memory of a man she tried to hate. And the next he was soothing and considerate like nothing she could associate with.

"Yes." There was no reason to hide it. She earned this information; she fought and almost lost her life for it. Chiyo had lost hers, and there was no way she would let anyone else take this opportunity from her. And every moment that they stood and waited for Naruto to pack his bag was like giant ticking clock hung around her neck. She would meet the spy, and she would infiltrate Orochimaru's organization; because it was her right, her duty, her only motivation for the past two and a half years. It was _hers_.

"Are you sure you can trust what Sasori said?" She could hear the words that were spoken beneath the statement, the question of her skills as a shinobi, her inadequacies. She swore she could almost feel the blade twisting in her back. After all, he must think of her as nothing but a lowly medic-nin. She was no better than a bug he could crush. And she was surprised to find just how much she sought to prove him wrong, as if his opinion on the subject meant anything to her.

"He had no reason to lie. He was defeated." She turned her face upward, uninterested in his lack of faith in her abilities. She would show him just how much she was capable of. And when she returned, victorious, with Sasuke – he would eat his pretty hair for doubting her.

"For a monster like him, it would the perfect excuse to lie." But each time he spoke, it was like he was trying to tell her something else, something she was missing. She watched him closely as she considered what, exactly; he was trying to tell her. First he'd showed almost admiration for her fight with Sasori, and now it appeared as if he was cynical of her skills.

"Point taken." It really was too early to be having this kind of conversation. She wanted to sleep a little longer, she wanted her bed, she wanted her morning cereal, she wanted Ino, and Tsunade. She wanted home. This mission had taken long enough, and she was ready to be free of life-or-death battles, puzzles, and stark, unrevealing white eyes.

He sighed, and she was certain then that she'd missed the point he was so painstakingly disguising from her. "Just, be careful." And there it was, all laid out at her feet: his warnings, his interest, his deprecating comments, and his _concern_. She shook her head, because it was just so absurd that he could be apprehensive for her sake. And against her better judgment, a small smile spread across her face as she turned to him.

"Why, Neji-san if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were worried about me." She imagined that if he knew _how_ to blush, he would have then; because he was caught by his own submission and he knew it. It was a gentle prod at his compassion, and she was bold enough to take it without trepidation. She thought she might have one piece of his puzzle solved then. It was the corner segment of his heart. Real, alive, and beating – he was only mortal after all.

"I am merely trying to ensure the chance to carry on a sociable conversation with a sane person in the future." He smirked and she was instantly glad. It was without question now; she preferred the hint of his upper teeth just past the curl of his lips better than the formal line his face habitually wore. And something inside her, deeply rooted in the past and profoundly invested in the sliver of information she gripped like a lifeline, shuddered at this. _Traitor_!

"Was that a… a… joke?" she stumbled and stuttered and fought to maintain an even expression. She failed miserably as Naruto cheerfully declared 'Onward' and Lee offered to carry Kakashi. There was something that broke in her, but at the same time she could almost swear that she was more whole than she had been in years. She was mending… and she had the gut-wrenching suspicion that the brown-haired, white-eyed man to her right had more to do with it than she would ever allow herself to know.

"I believe it was." He chuckled low as his sleeve brushed over her bare upper arm. And then it was his turn to leave her in the wake of his dust cloud as his feet met his bark and the distance he put between them. And try as she might, she could just _not_ manage to peal the smile from her lips or stop the delirious feeling of being whole again from forming at the sight of his shrinking back through the leaves.

* * *

_Pardon my intirusion here at the end, but I am now on my knees begging, begging with tears in my eyes...please, help me!_

* * *

◦○O**ADVERTISEMENT**O○◦

**BETA wanted!**

I am deeply in need of someone who can check over my fics before they go up. I don't need anyone familiar with all the shows I watch or anything like that. All I need is someone who will read over my fics, highlight the problem sections in red and send it back. I will do all of my own editing, I just need fresh eyes who will point out the things I missed. And, this person should be over 17 because I have NC-17 fics that severely need a once over. And I refuse to corrupt innocent children for the sake of grammar. Seriously though... I do have SOME morals!


	3. In Between

**Title: **Three Days 'Till Home**  
Author:** Winter Ashby (_rosweldrmr_)  
**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto-sama  
**Rating: **K+  
**Summary: **Three days can be a very long time to get home and out of the sun, especially now that Sakura holds a precious piece of information. But, in the presence of the right person, perhaps three days isn't quite long enough… (Sakura & Neji)  
**Authors Notes: **I'm not happy with this... but I'm not going to continue it either... so it will stay as is, for now.

I want to give a great big shout out to Mistress DragonFlame, who BETA'd this! She also had the heart to point out some errors in my judgement in this particular plot. Oh well... live and learn. And the next Neji & Sakura piece I do will be decidely different. Thankyou MDF - you are an angel!

I also want to thank SE, even if she isn't reading this, for her very helpful suggestions about the end of this fic. Hopefully it turned out okay, I know it's not my best work.

Finally, this is the LAST CHAPTER in this fic... there will be NO MORE. I think it's about time I ended this anyway.

* * *

The air was turning cold as it brushed over her face in the dimming light. They would spend one more night on the ground, and then she would be home. One more night and half a day of traveling and Sakura's feet would hit Konoha soil again. She could smell the rain off to the east, moving in their direction and an unsolicited groan emerged from her parted lips. One night and half a day couldn't end soon enough. 

Her mind was still caught up in thoughts of her morning. The way Neji's comments had squirmed their way into her mind was bothersome, just as his constant presence was. Just to her left, only three trees over, he kept in perfect time with her. It was almost as if he was purposefully staying around her. This was both distracting and aggravating. Yes, even half a day more with him and she was afraid something would break.

The sun faded as its light diffused through the trees and she was glad when Gai signaled their halt. It was a large, open clearing in the woods and Sakura thought it looked vaguely familiar. But at least it was large enough to put some much needed space between her and the others. Lee and Ten-Ten had managed to argue most of the day, while Naruto had been grating on her last nerve.

She nearly regretted thinking so fondly of him this morning because she was going to have to murder him in a few hours if he didn't leave her alone. _Sakura-chaaaan_. She could hear his voice in her head, asking for something, pointing to a squirrel, chattering non-stop about nothing she was interested in. She craved peace and quiet, and she was desperate for it as they settled in for the night.

She chose a spot under a tree, behind a large bolder, a quarter mile from the rest of them. But in the open field, she was still in vocal communication range, and she was sure the deranged look she gave Kakashi halted any protest he might have made. She unpacked tent and grudgingly set it up. She knew it would rain, just like she knew that this night would last forever. Sleeping under the stars on a clear night was serene, but in the rain, on the ground, surrounded by never-ending irritation, she felt like she was going to kill something very soon.

When the pitter-patter of the rain started, a small, satisfied smile spread across her lips as she curled farther into her sleeping roll. Idly, she wondered if the rest of them had been smart enough to pack their tents. But in the moments that passed and soggy footsteps grew louder, she had a sinking suspicion that someone had been unprepared. But what she _wasn't_ prepared for was the dripping brown hair, shinning white eyes, and nearly transparent white robe of Hyuuga Neji that boldly unzipped the flap of her tent and stuck his head in.

"Neji-san, what are you doing?" Immediatelyher hands gripped at the sleeping roll that pooled around her waist and pulled it tightly to her neck. He seemed impervious to his clearly inappropriate action and merely watched her for a moment, dripping, and breathing heavily. She could see the little puffs of his foggy breath against the black backdrop of the night sky.

"Gai-sensei insisted that I check to see if you set up your tent." He was bent on one knee and as the freezing air blew past him and touched her face, she shivered. His body seemed to be shaking and part of her wildly insisted that she do something to stop that cold, wet, miserable look he was giving her.

"You're… You're soaking." She pulled her feet up, almost unconsciously and watched, fixated and _horrified_ as he crawled in through the flapping fabric and secured it behind him. It was like this was some kind of a bad dream. A terrible kind of nightmare where Neji was in her tent, dripping wet, and shivering – and she _cared_.

"Yes." He sat with his back to her; facing the entrance of the tent he had zipped shut. It was almost as if he was in shock too, like he could believe that he'd really done it. If she wasn't so completely and utterly frozen in her incredulity, it might have been funny. But as it was, he was wet and cold and she couldn't stop the medic portion of her brain that was resolute that he would soon contract hypothermia and die at her feet.

"Are you insane?" She couldn't stop the exasperation and anger that seeped from her mouth and leaked from her itching fingertips. "You're going to catch hypothermia, and die! Baka!" But before she could stop her hands or twitching sympathy, she'd pulled her sleeping roll down and immediate placed her shaking hands on his back. He was so cold, it nearly burned her. She recoiled for an instant, but after she'd huffed, she pulled her bare legs from her sleeping roll and knelt behind him.

"Ten-Ten did not pack her tent." His voice quivered as he spoke and she listened tentatively as she began releasing her chakra through his clothed back in an effort to warm him internally. "I offered mine." As if his noble intentions were just a feeble excuse, she swore softly under her breath and continued to ignore how much she hated him for being so idiotically stupid.

"Great idea, and where are you going to sleep?" She was beginning to feel annoyed by trying to warm him when all of it was just being sucked out of his skin by his sopping robe. She considered telling him to take off his clothes for a moment, but the sever blush that burned her cheeks was too great. So instead she leaned over his shoulders and undid the clasp holding the traditional Hyuuga robe around his shoulders.

Her thinly covered chest rubbed over the haunch of his back, and she could feel the cold moisture seep into her shirt. He made no effort to answer or stop her shivering hands from pealing the robes from his upper body. When she'd removed his robe, she nearly thanked god that he no longer wrapped the entire right side of his body with bandages. But he was pale and trembling so fiercely; she could barely stand to watch.

"I will be fine." Even through his chattering teeth she could practically feel his pride welling up defensively. And he reminded her then so fiercely of another man who would die to protect his pride. So she sighed, heavy and defeated in her mind and began to rub his back in the darkness of the tent. She could almost imagine those cold raven eyes looking at her just they had all those years ago.

She chewed on her bottom and lip and poured the only comfort she would ever allow herself to offer another man flow from her strong, ungloved hands and clenched her eyes shut in a futile kind of denial. If it wasn't his skin she was feeling and his racing heartbeat just under her fingertips, then she wouldn't feel like such a deserter. "That doesn't answer my question."

His back heaved as he reached past the cold at the last wavering remnant of hope that hung just beyond her reach. "I saved her." He didn't make any sense, and she could almost swear that she could smell alcohol. But she blinked and it was gone, along with most of her strength. But he still shivered, so she walked on her knees around his legs, to face him in the dark.

"What?" She watched him for a moment, the moon reflecting through the clouds, and thin water-resistant fabric of the tent against his vast, white eyes. He was a magnificent sight, shinning, shivering, and full of unquenchable pride. She busied her hands with the straps of his hakama as he watched her eyes dart from side to side.

"She was so small, and helpless." And his voice was so distant and cold she shivered. But it wasn't cold like she used to imagine that it would feel like as it passed her face, now it was just cold because he had no warmth left. As the wet fabric of his traditional hakama was removed he was left in only the slightly damp material of his quarter-length under-pants. He didn't seem to notice as she promptly turned seven shades of red.

She focused her attention on his words, on the unspoken, pitiable _pain_ that was etched into every inch of his features. "Neji-san, who…" Her voice drifted off as she tried to piece him back together. But all the splinters of his ego and pride were spread across her fingers and coated her skin. She could almost feel him, asking her to put him back together. And there, in the middle of his puzzle was the girl he was referring to.

"She was caught in Kisame's water jutsu, we all were. I could see her grasping for air, and I couldn't stand it." His voice broke, and she was sure that a part of her heart joined his strained vocal cords in the midnight dance of shattered pieces. "I'm the one who saved her. I saved all of us. But I was the one who reached her first." His hands flew up and held her shoulders firmly as his wild, untamed eyes frantically _begged_ her to understand. "I caught her in the falling water and held her. I would do anything to protect her." Then there was a tilt of the planet and his dripping hair brushed past her bare arms on his way to bury his face in her chest.

She held his head, and stoked his hair because it was all so familiar she wished she didn't have the memories that tied her to him at that moment. "Ten-Ten-san." As her lips formed the young weapon's mistress' name, his down-turned face swerved past the darkness and met her eyes with a belittling kind of anger. The sheer indignation that drenched her in the pounding rain was suffocating.

"Of course, who else would I be talking about?" He answered as if it was a simple matter, and not the world-stopping kind of confession he'd actually just given. He shouldn't have been this open, this vulnerable. She hated seeing the broken pieces of his heart sitting on his shoulder, just waiting for her to put back together. She had no desire to put his pieces back, except maybe to stop that look from covering his face. She knew it well, heartache. She hated it.

"I'm sorry, I…"

"She was the one who trained with me before the first chuunin exam." He still watched her with the same eyes and begged her to hear him. He was nearly hysterical as he looked up from under her chin. "She's always been there fighting along side me. And now…" as his voice dropped off, just past the image she felt strangely connected to him. "I just don't understand."

"Understand what?" She indulged in the act of conversation and touched his hair like it was an every day occurrence even as his hair soaked through her nightshirt, leaving her cold and mildly exposed. But he still watched her, the anger seeping away and slowly being replaced by the pain she was sure he was an expert at hiding. It occurred to her then, she may be the only person who'd ever seen him like this… she wasn't sure if she was honored or horrified.

So he continued to leak his pain over her in suffocating waves of empathy. And he looked up at her with off-white eyes shinning in the night through the darkness, and she was almost certain then that he could see _through_ her."What does she see in him?" It was such a simple question, almost like an after thought in the wave of life. _Why?_ The question was resounding, and unanswered. She nearly felt guilty for not having any answer. "How could she choose him over me?" his ire rose and she almost drew her hand from his silken locks. But then she recognized the mock anger that hid the heartache and she laced her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck.

"I… I'm not sure." He curled his body into her stomach as his arms wrapped around her waist, and she was strangely proud to offer him this small slice of comfort. But then she reminded herself that comforting Neji should not be a point of pride, but rather terror. So she watched him and her connection to him grow with each moment he lay in her arms. And she swallowed her invisible anti-morals and soothed him because she knew it was the right thing to do. Absentmindedly, she wished there had been someone to stroke her hair and listen to her pain the day after Sasuke left.

"What does that bobble-haired weirdo have that I don't?" She smiled warmly thinking of the noble, brave, strong-willed shinobi that saved her life once. "What could he offer that I can't?" But his outrage continued, and she let him. Even though she had the utmost respect for Lee, she understood that supplying an answer wouldn't be progress in this situation. "I am the strongest member of Konoha's most influential and powerful clan. I could give her anything!" Then he looked at her, deeper this time, like he was searching for something inside her. She remained still and allowed him to inspect her heart. "Tell me," his voice was suddenly soft and distant; unconsciously she leaned closer to hear him better. "…what is it about him that makes her look at him like _that_?"

She remembered the look, and thinking that they would make a perfect pair. But now that she held the side-effect of the possibility of such a union in her arms, she was forced to reevaluate her stance. "I think I'm the wrong person to be asking this, Neji-san." She chose ignorance, for the sake of diplomacy.

"She might as well fall in love with Gai-sensei, they are practically clones!" She giggled lightly into the darkness that surround them and settled farther against him.

"I suppose you have a point." She could feel the fabric of heart twist with the sinew of his, and she was so connected to him now she could feel his heart beat. So she touched his hair and looked at him like he'd always been there.

But then he broke the silent spell and looked past her newly formed bond and spoke with a desperation she was unused to. "It doesn't make any sense! Could you love me, Sakura?"

"Neji-san…"

"I could protect you." He was strong and insistent. He sat up held her by her shoulders so she would have to look at him. "I could make you happy. I could care for you, and give you children." Sakura was dumbfounded, and flabbergasted. But she couldn't look away. "I could give you a life. Why do you still love the Uchiha?" And she crumbled in the dark night wrapped now in his arms.

"I don't know if I love him anymore." She was honest, for perhaps the first time in her life, and the reality of such a statement was crushing.

"Then will you let me love you?" he pulled her to him, and her face was crushed against his bare chest. His hands fumbled in her hair and she could hear the pain that radiated from his voice. "I'm stronger than he is. I'd never leave you, or make you cry like he did. I would never turn my back on the village no matter how much I wanted revenge." She pulled her face from his strong hands and looked past the dark to see his shinning eyes and fractured soul. "I could change for you; I could make you smile and laugh like I did today and yesterday, but for always, if you'd only give me the chance!"

"Yamete, Neji-san!" Sakura cupped her hands over her ears and clamped her eyes shut. This was all wrong. It shouldn't have been him saying these things, even if they were perfect. He'd just managed to promise her everything she'd ever wanted, and she felt sick.

"Gomen nasai." she opened her eyes and dropped her hands in time to see a tear stream down his cheek. So she leaned in to wipe it away, because it looked _wrong_ rolling down his face. But there was something else very wrong here, because Hyuuga Neji wouldn't cry, or beg Sakura to love him. So she inspected him and nearly fell back when she realized.

"Are… are you drunk?" his face shot up, incredulously. But there wasn't any denial.

"I was cold." He offered such a simple explanation, as if that would be able to justify everything he'd done and said. And oddly enough, it did justify everything for her. So she sighed heavily in her throat and crossed her arms.

"Where on earth did you get sake from?" She questioned him and was not surprised to find that the pieces of this convoluted puzzle were falling into place.

"Kakashi-san." His answer was not surprising in the least.

"Figures." She just wondered if Kakashi had handed it to him and told him it would make him warmer, or if Neji had seen it and just taken it in a moment of freezing desperation.

"Forgive me, Sakura. I didn't mean to…" he was quiet now, and the frenzied look in his eyes as he begged her to let him love her was gone. She was deeply happy for that. So she would let this night pass into relative obscurity in the wake of the new morning.

"Sleep now, Neji-san." She lay back, and he followed a moment later. "All this will be forgotten in the morning." She folded her exposed limbs under her sleeping roll and made room for him next to her.

"Forget her?" he asked as he moved his body to lay next to her in the small tent.

"No, you can't just forget her." She put her hands behind her head and look up at the darkness for answers that she knew it didn't have.

"With you, and time, I think I could." She sighed and closed her eyes, because this was all just some kind of bad dream. And in the morning, it would all be gone.

"I will never be a replacement for her." She glanced over at him, only to find that he was looking at her. She quickly removed her hands and curled up away from him and his unnerving white eyes.

"I know that." He looked away from her, back to the empty space above their head. "I could never replace him either, but at least we wouldn't be alone." She felt something cold and strong wrap around her hand. She was speechless to find his hand on hers.

"Neji-san…"

"Don't." He cut her off and looked over her shoulder directly into her eyes. And she couldn't bring herself to look away. "Say my name like you say his."

"That's not something I can do." She was only mildly surprised to see that she was whispering now.

"Onegai, Sakura, just once." His hand in her was comforting and terrifying. So she turned her face away and tried to imagine that this was all just a dream. "I want to know what it feels like to hear someone say my name the way you used to say his." She could fell him move on the fabric of her sleeping roll, and she could feel his breath on her neck. She didn't dare turn, because she knew his face would be just inches away from hers. "I want to know what it feels like to be loved." She gasped lightly, how could she not?

"Neji-s…"

"Onegai, just for tonight." and she did turn then, to look at him and his flagrant vulnerability. "I won't remember, so none of this will be real in the morning." He smirked, sadly and empty and a piece of her heart broke then because that look was painfully true.

"It'll be real for me." His face was still just inches away, and she could smell the alcohol on him.

"Then let it be real," he turned her in his arms and looked down at her. Sakura could feel her heartbeat speed up "…because tomorrow we go back to the village and you'll leave on another mission to bring him back." He ran his fingers over her cheek and she forgot how to breathe. "Let this be real, so if you never come back, at least you'll have this."

It took her a moment to respond, because she felt like she was in a thick haze and could barely see what was right in front of her. "Why wouldn't I come back?"

"Because he'll kill you this time if you interfere." His hands ran up her bare arms and she shivered against him.

"Do you really think that?" she leaned in and watched his eyes for any sign of a lie.

"Hai." He was telling the truth. And she knew he was right. She could die.

So she rolled into him and let his arms envelope her as the tendrils of sleep took hold. And as she drifted off, the last thing she saw was him and his shinning white eyes, and she was suddenly sure that just one more day wasn't nearly long enough. "Arigatou, Neji-kun."

* * *

So, how bad was it?


End file.
